Total area of 38000 square meter of land is nestled in Tanjung Balangan; on the beach, white sand, magnificent cave, cliffs ocean view. And Airport in distance is blinking with lights. New Kuta Resort and …

Makepung: Bull Race

Makepung or bull race is the only spectacular crowd-gather event that is held in Jembrana Regency. Even the regency itself is nick named after this sport event, Bumi Makepung or Land of Bull Race.

The origin of Makepung is quite a mystery, some say it began as nothing more than rivalry between local farmers; others assume that it is introduced by Madurese migrants to celebrate the end of the rice harvest.

This ancient competitive race takes place on a race track about 800 meters long situated outside Negara, the capital city of Jembrana. The races are usually held three times a year, in August, September, and October.

Only the handsomest, sleekest water buffaloes are chosen to compete. Once a bull has been chosen as a racer, it receives endless care and attention from its owner. It lives in luxury unlike its unfortunate brother or sister which works the fields. Potential champion is housed separately in comfortable lodging and fed special protein diet full to enhance its racing performance.

The Makepung starts in the morning and by mid-day it’s all over. Early in the morning, 100 water buffaloes decorated with colorful silk flags, ribbons and jangling bells are led into the race track by their owners. Hundreds of spectators are already gathered, mostly men and boys. The owners parade their buffaloes on the race track before the crowd of spectators. This prelude may take an hour or so.

After the parade session is over, the buffaloes are striped off from their ornaments and a pair of buffaloes is teamed with a brightly clad jockey. The paired buffaloes are yoked to a rickety, gaily decorated two-wheel chariot. Two pairs of water buffaloes or more compete in each race. To gain speed, the jockeys twist the bull’s tail and lash their backs with whips. These heavy, awkward looking, clumsy and meek animals transform into galloping juggernauts, capable of tremendous speed (60 kph). Entrants are judged not only for speed but also awarded point for strength, color, and style. The winning bulls are used for stud and fetch up to twice market value when sold.

A variation of makepung is the magembeng, in which a pair of bulls is harnessed together and decorated with elaborate ornaments. Huge wooden bells (gembeng) are hung around their necks, making distinctive sounds as the bulls race across the field dragging the colorfully dressed jockeys behind them on the skids.

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.

Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page.Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Nandini Bali Jungle Resort & Spa Ubud is proud to introduce our new Meeting Room and Team Building programme. We can accommodate indoor meeting for up to 30 people including all necessary equipment according to …

Nandini Bali Jungle Resort and Spa is very proud to announce that our daily complimentary Yoga Meditaion is a clear success and most appreciated by many of our precious guests.
The daily Yoga Meditation is taking …

Buleleng, the northernmost area of Bali conceals an old Balinese village in which culture and arts are different from today’s Balinese village. The community has their own traditional costumes and a special dialect. Due to …